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12 Minutes of Original Footage? Extended Uryu vs Ichigo Fight? What to Expect in Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Episode 30!

This might be the best-looking Bleach TYBW episode to date.

Bleach TYBW 30
BLEACH © 2001-2016 by Tite Kubo/SHUEISHA Inc.

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War Episode 30 seems to be highly anticipated due to the staff that will be involved and the anticipated match between Ichigo and Uryu.

Preview Images

Episode 30 will likely cover all of Chapter 619: “The Betrayer” and Chapter 620: “Where Do You Stand?”, which covers Uryu vs Ichigo.

The preview images are as expected, given the focus on the Soul King Palace but the second preview image, of Yhwach with the dead Soul King, look to be an incredibly rich detail, highlighting what could be a recurring element for the episode to come.

This shot would also indicate that Chapter 620 will be completely covered as it is where Yhwach declares his intention to completely devour Adnyeus.

Staff List

Script: Masaki Hiramatsu
Storyboard: Yoichi Fujita
Direction: Itoko Nagai
Animation Director: Mika Okubo, Natsuko Suzuki, Hwang Sung-hee, Cindy H. Yamauchi, Megumi Wakayama
Chief Animation Director: Hijiri Komatsubara
Key Animation: Natsuko Suzuki, Tatsuya Koyanagi, Nakari, Takahiro FUJII, Yusuke Adachi, Till, Lee Minwoo, Ayako Moriizumi, Hayashi, Dorian, Maki Murakami, Nao Takano, Gen Sato, Mitchell Gonzales, Sora Ishikuza, Seon Hie Kim, Sailor Yon, Jhyy, SENO, Hana no Kishi(岸 花之), Toshikami Akasaka(赤坂俊上), Takafumi Sunagawa(砂川貴戦), Mitsumori Matsuzaka (松坂光盛), Masahiro Junki(純木正宏), Nanami Yamamoto(山本ななみ), Zhang Jia-rong(張家榮), Koji Kyuya(级野浩二), Ikariō Hi(非高里生)

-PIERROT FILMS:
Yuki Sato, Mika Ookubo
-Pierrot Animation Room:
Shiho Sugatani, Mifumi Tomita
-Hangzhou Animation Studio:
齐兴邦, 叶鑫, 朱宏禹, 沈珞内

Yoichi Fujita has handled many Cour 2 episode storyboards, namely Episode 16: “The Fundamental Virulence”, Episode 22: Marching Out the ZOMBIES and Episode 24: ” Too Early to Win, Too Late to Know”

Meanwhile, Nagai was Episode Director of Episode 18: “Rages at Ringside”, well-known for the well-adapted appearance of Renji’s true Bankai Soo Zabimaru, and Episode 26: “Black”, which showed the battle between Ichibe and Yhwach and the Royal Guards against the Schutzstaffel.

Nagai is notable for storyboarding and directing Boruto Episode 286, the last episode of the Sasuke Retsuden adaptation, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean Episode.18: “Enter Foo Fighters”, which shows the fight between Foo Fighters and Kenzou.

There are many animators included in this list but highlighted are the following:

Tatsuya Koyanagi: Naruto Shippuden

Nakari: Black Clover, Wind Breaker

Tiffining: Black Clover series, Black Clover the Movie: Sword of the Wizard King,  Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 65 (Naruto and Sasuke vs Momoshiki)

Dorian Coulun: One Piece, Fire Force, Jujutsu Kaisen, Black Clover the Movie

Mitchell Gonzales: Black Clover, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, One Piece, Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War

Yuki Sato. Fire Force

Takaya Sunagawa: Black Clover

Shunji Akasaka: Black Clover

Jiahao Zhang: Mushoku Tensei, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Ending 23

Xuli: Mushoku Tensei

Sora Ishitsuka: Solo Leveling

Most anticipated of all is the animator Huang Cheng Xii, who was involved in some of the highest profile anime projects, namely Naruto Shippuden Episode 476-477 (the final Naruto vs Sasuke battle), Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episodes 65 (the Momoshiki battle) and My Hero Academia Season 4 Episode 12 (the start to Deku vs Overhaul), Attack on Titan: The Final Season – The Final Chapters Part 2 (the cut of Levi fighting the Ancient Titans early on, not the Arifumi Imai cut shown on the tweet).

Of note, Cheng Xi is also the animation director of the Naruto 20th Anniversary Trailer.

There have also been statements suggesting that the bulk of the episode, 12 minutes, will be original content.

Bleach TYBW Episode 28 had 7 minutes of original footage for Ichigo vs Yhwach to fit with the Almighty’s activation at the 9:09 mark.

Either way, the episode looks stacked from the amount of staff and reputable key animators involved.

Leaks and What to Expect

This episode might have the fewest chapters to be adapted in the TYBW adaptation due to the focus on the Uryu vs Ichigo fight.

The previews are telling that we might spend most of the episode on the Soul King Palace but the leaks from various sources tell us more about the situation.

Uryu’s Complete Vollstandig

The user @BBSHER0 reveals that Uryu’s complete Vollstandig will be used in the fight against Ichigo, showing that the former comrade is serious about potentially killing Ichigo for the sake of his goals.

The leak notes that the Vollstandig resembles Byakuya’s Senbozakura, so akin to glowing blue flower petals, which was somewhat hinted at in Episode 27: “A”.

Ichigo’s Friends vs Yhwach’s Royal Guards’ Vollstandig

After Pernida nearly destroys Yoruichi’s arm with the Compulsory, Yoruichi, Chad, and Ganju would face off against the other Schutzstaffel.

Ganju used the old technique Renkan Seppa Sen (Stone Wave Fan of Linked Rings), which appeared in episodes 26-28 of the old anime.

Unlike his regular Seppa technique last episode, Ganju was able to cause the platform on the Palace to crumble and make the Quincy fall,  forcing them to activate their Vollständig to return.

Yhwach Absorbs the Soul King

We might see Soul King Yhwach much earlier than intended since the absorption is complete by Chapter 625: “The Living Jaguar”

The episode will end with Yhwach absorbing the Soul King but whether it is the start (Chapter 620), the middle (Chapters 621 to 624) or the end of the absorption process (Chapter 625), we are not sure.

Episode Poem Guess and Next Episode Title

Bleach TYBW Episode 30’s poem will be by Sosuke Aizen.

Aizen has two poems in the Bleach manga, from Volume 12: “Flower on the Precipice” and Volume 48: “God is Dead”

“We think a flower on a cliff is beautiful

because we stop our feet at the cliff’s edge,

unable to step out into the sky

like that fearless flower”

(Volume 12: FLOWER ON THE PRECIPICE)

“All people, imitations of apes,

All gods, imitations of people”

(Volume 48: GOD IS DEAD)

There is a slight possibility that the Volume 12 poem could be used due to its significance to both Sosuke Aizen’s character arc and the conclusion of the original Bleach manga.

In Chapter 686: “Death and Strawberry”, Aizen says the final monologue of the series, where he says:

“In a world without the fear of death, people will not search for hope. People will persist simply by being alive but persistence while fending off fear is something entirely different. That is why people have a special name for it: courage”

For the past 3 episodes, the poems used have been originals made by Tite Kubo for the anime and we are likely still in that direction.

Bleach TYBW Episode 31 is titled “Against the Judgment” and will be released on November 2, 2024.

Being the title of Chapter 623, this indicates that we might lose Askin Nakk le Vaar’s poem from Volume 68: “Ordinary Peace” (Chapters 612 to 622) as we are entering a new volume, Volume 69: “Against the Judgment”.

This also means that the Sternritter alliance with the Gotei 13 will be made in Episode 31, meaning the content will cover Chapter 621: “The Dark Curtain”, referencing Aizen’s most powerful use of a chantless Hado 90: Kurohitsugi against the Soul King’s Reiatsu that have turned into black blob monsters all the way to the end of Chapter 623 or even early into Chapter 624: “THE FANG”.

Bleach TYBW Episode 30 will be released on October 26, 2024.

Source: Twitter

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